Ideal free agent fit for Orioles will require Mike Elias to get over his biggest crutch

You have to give Mike Elias credit for being aggressive. The Taylor Ward trade was the first sizeable move of the offseason, even if the fit and cost were questionable. The Ryan Helsley signing was the first significant reliever to come off the board, even if he is a second-tier option. However, the Baltimore Orioles still have glaring needs.

Landing a true ace was and still is the Orioles' biggest need. Elias wasted no time in letting everyone know that investing big dollars and years in a frontline starter was "on the table." Words are one thing, but actions are another.

The perfect target is sitting right there on the free-agent market in Framber Valdez, but the question will be whether Elias truly has the stomach to give the star southpaw what he wants in order to choose Baltimore.

Framber Valdez is the perfect free agent to lead the Orioles' rotation, but landing him will require Mike Elias to get serious

There's always the chance that Baltimore could go ahead and trade for a top-of-the-rotation arm, but the fits are few and far between. The best trade-market solution is Joe Ryan of the Minnesota Twins, but in trading for him, Elias might find himself back in a Corbin Burnes situation two years down the road, having to face his fear of long-term commitment and big money dollars or watching another stud starter walk out the door.

And Burnes is a reminder of how Elias might pony up in dollars or years, but not both. Baltimore offered Burnes a four-year, $180 million deal, which would've been the highest AAV for a starting pitcher ever, Shohei Ohtani not withstanding.

That had its merits, but ultimately, Burnes valued the long-term security the Arizona Diamondbacks offered, not to mention getting closer to home. Still, if Elias had gone to six years while coming in at a slightly higher number than the $210 million Burnes received from Arizona, he might have been able to seal the deal.

That brings us to Framber Valdez. The lefty hurler just turned 32, so this is his one and only shot to hit the free-agent jackpot. He comes into the proceedings with a track record of elite performance, rock-solid durability, and extensive postseason experience. No other free-agent hurler can check all of those boxes like Valdez can.

Since 2022, only Logan Webb has thrown more innings than Valdez's 767.2 frames. In that same time period, Valdez has recorded a 3.21 ERA, which is good for 19th among all big league starters and, in this free-agent class, is second only to Michael King, who pitched just over half as many innings as Valdez while sending a good chunk of that time as a reliever.

Simply put, Valdez is a workhorse with elite stuff, production, and postseason grit. If you were to create your dream Orioles' ace in a lab, it would be him. And that has a real cost. If Elias tries to skimp out on either the dollars or, more likely, the years due to Valdez's age, he'll watch him walk away from the table and land elsewhere. It's put up or shut up time for Mike, and if he really wants to prove that he's all in, then ponying up and bringing Framber Valdez into the fold is what he must do.